Chapter 1; Crime

1.1.1 The meaning of crime

A crime can be an criminal act or a failure to act that breaks the law, for which punishment is prescribed by law. The legal characteristics of a crime are; there must be an act, or a failure to act (an omission) which breaks the law. The act or omission must be seen as harmful to the community as a whole. The act or omission is punishable by the state. The state takes the person who committed the act to court, where the offence must be pro ed according to the rules of criminal procedure.

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The elements of crime

the two elements that need to be pro ed are Actus "eus and #ens "ea. To be Actus "eus means you had to commit the crime. #ens "eus means you either intended to act or are culpable by negligence.

Actus "eus, the guilty act

The important features are The act or omission actually took place. That it was done by the accused. That it was oluntary

#ens "ea, the guilty mind

The important features are The intention or specific desire to commit the act or omit the duty. "ecklessness $egligence

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&trict liability offences

&trict liability offences are crimes where no #ens "ea needs to be pro en. 'f you speed, it only needs to be pro en that you broke the speed limit (your state of mind at the time does not matter.

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Causation

*or a crime to be pro ed causation must be shown. This means that the act or omission committed must ha e caused the specific in+ury complained of. The principles of causation mainly apply to murder or manslaughter charges. 'n the cases, if the accused had the #ens "ea and the Actus "eus to commit murder but the ictims death resulted by other means, then the offence of murder is not yet pro ed.

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Categories of crime

the criminal law has a far reaching scope or range, the different types of criminal offences are a followed. -ffences against the person; murder, assault and se.ual assault. -ffences against the so ereign;spying, treason, illegal demonstrations and trespass on go ernment land. /conomic offences;crimes against property, white(collar crimes,computer crimes. 0rug offences;possession of illegal drugs,trafficking, culti ation, manufacture and importing of illegal drugs 0ri ing offences;speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, negligent dri ing reckless dri ing, so on.

1ublic order offences;offensi e conduct, obstructing traffic, indecent e.posure. 1reliminary crimes;attempts and conspiracy

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summary and indictable offences

summary offences are those heard and decided by a magistrate sitting without a +ury. These offences are relati ely minor and include dri ing offences and offensi e beha iour. &ummary offences are heard y a magistrate in a local court. 'ndictable offences are serious criminal offences and may be heard by a +udge and a +ury. They include murder, se.ual assault and malicious wounding. 'n practise, many less serious indictable offences are heard summarily(that is, without a +ury.

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1arties to a crime

the parties to a crime are people who ha e participated in committing a criminal offence. This can be before, during or after the offence. The parties to a crime include; The principle in the first degree4 this is the actual perpetrator of the crime( that is the person or persons who actually committed the crime. The principal in the second degree4 this is a person or persons who were present or who assisted the principal in the first degree in committing the offence. The accessory after the fact4 this a person or persons who helped the principals after the crime had been committed.

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*actors affecting criminal beha iour

most people obey laws because; religion or alue system, common sense, fear punishment, fear public shame,we are educated to think certain beha iour is wrong. #ost people disobey laws because4 they see laws as being unimportant, think they wont be caught, gi e in to temptation, see it as thrilling or e.citing to break the law.

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Crime pre ention; situational and social

situational crime pre ention refers to creating situation where it is difficult for people to break the criminal law. &ocial crime pre ention occurs through changing the social factors which cause people to be criminals.

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The criminal in estigation process

There are three main stages in the criminal process; the criminal in estigation process( this is the in estigati e stage of the criminal process, where crimes are detected and in estigated and e idence is gathered so that the alleged offender may be brought before a court. The criminal trial process( this is also known as the ad+udication process and is the hearing stage, where the guilt or innocence of a defendant is decided in a court. &entencing and punishment( this is the punishment process in which courts decide appropriate punishments for con icted offenders, and sentences are carried out by arious sentencing authorities.

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1olice powers

search and sei7ure( the police ha e power to search people, places and motor ehicles, and sei7e or take e idence. Access to information( computerised operational policing system (cops) gi es police the ability to cross reference details of all 8persons of interest.

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"eporting Crime

Crimes go unreported for many different reasons4 reporting a crime may bring the ictims own illegal acts or omissions to the attention of the police; 9ictims may know the alleged offender, who could be a family member, friend or ac:uaintance. The crimes are not reported due to feelings of loyalty, fear or protection; red tape; feelings of humiliation or shame; the belief that reporting does not lead to an arrest or con iction; many se.ual assault ictims belie e that there is a se.ism in the police force and the +udiciary.

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'n estigating Crime

after the crime is reported the police in estigate and gather as much e idence as possible; they may do inter iews, gather physical e idence, use technology(such as phone taps(, search people, sei7e property, use warrants. &o they can lay charges.

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Arrest and charge, summons and warrants

&ummons4 an official legal document that commands a certain person to appear at a particular court at a particular time. 'nformation and warrant4 issued by a +udge or magistrate that gi es the police the power to arrest the offender whene er and where e er he or she may be found. Arrest without warrant4 arrests made by police to anyone they reasonably suspect of ha ing committed an offence. Citi7ens Arrest4 ordinary people may arrest another person when a crime has been committed or attempted, there is an immediate danger of a crime being committed or if there is a breach of the peace.

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;ail or remand

;ail; if granted the defendant is free to go, but must attend court on the day specified. ;ail can be granted unconditionally or conditionally (for e.ample the defendant must lodge a sum of money and report to the police station e eryday). Those accused of drug trafficking, murder and in ol ement with terrorist acti ity are not eligible for bail unless they can satisfy the +udge that it should be granted. "emand; is the term used for what happens to the accused when bail is refused. The defendant is remanded in custody (that is, kept in prison until the day of the court hearing.

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0etention and interrogation, and the rights of a suspect

After a person has been arrested by the police they are usually detained and interrogated. <enerally speaking a person cannot be detained unless he or she is arrested. 'nterrogation( police ha e a right to ask :uestions, but a suspect need not answer them e.cept in special cases which include; a dri er must produce his or her license on re:uest a person must, if able to do so, gi e the name and address of a dri er who has been in ol ed in a motor accident. A person must gi e information to customs officer about drug smuggling.

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The system is effecti e but sometimes the community limits the police in estigation. A significant number of crime is not reported because ictims belie e nothing will be done, this is particularly true in cases of se.ual assault.

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criminal trial process

the criminal trial process is where the guilt or innocence of the defendant is decided in court. "ole of the local court4 To hear minor criminal cases To hear committal proceedings for more serious crimes( indictable offences. To conduct coronal en:uiries To di ert some drug offenders from the court system to recei e treatment. "ole of district court4 To hear indictable offences such as manslaughter, bigamy,armed robbery and malicious wounding. To hear appeals from the local court about se erity of sentence or for a rehearing. "ole of the supreme court4 To hear ery serious indictable offences, such as murder and arson. "ole of the court of criminal appeal4 't hears appeals from district and supreme courts about se erity of sentence or on :uestion of fact of law. Can hear appeals from local court on :uestion of law only. "ole of the high court4 to hear appeals from the court of criminal appeal on :uestions of law. To hear appeals in federal criminal matters from the federal court.

The implication of charge negotiation

the accused4 charge negotiations puts pressure on the accused to plead guilty for something he or she might not be found guilty for;the accused may get a lighter sentence than he or she deser es; the accused may plead guilty to a lesser charge simply because he or she can not afford defending the more serious charge. The ictim4 it sa es the ictim the ordeal of gi ing e idence and being cross e.amined;the lighter sentence for the accused may mean the ictim of the crime feels the offender was not punished

sufficiently. The community4 it sa es witnesses in the community from ordeal; it8s efficient, :uick and ine.pensi e; a lighter sentence may mean the accused will be more likely to re(offend, resulting in a higher threat or danger to the community.

"ules of / idence
=earsay; witnesses may only tell the court what they saw or heard not what someone else told them happened. -pinion e idence; a witness cannot gi e his or her opinion about another>s words or actions unless he or she is an e.pert in that field. "ele ance; only e idence that relates to the matters under scrutiny can be gi en by a witness character e idence; generally e idence cannot be gi en about the bad character of the accused.

Case &tudies.
1.2 Assess the use of defence of mental 'llness in achie ing +ustice? A person could successfully pretend to ha e a mental illness, because how many there are( any person can murder, and while there are laws to protect the ictim. There are many laws that seem to protect the perpetrator. @as porter guilty of murder? =e is the only one who truly knows. 1.3 people should be able to protect themsel es from harm. ;ut reasonable force dictates that it depends on4 whether the defendant belie ed it was necessary to use such force whether the belief was based on reasonable grounds. Aece ic was found guilty of murder because he did not ha e reasonable grounds for his actions. /specially considering there were other foreseeable options. 1.5 To murder someone to protect your own life is reasonable...kinda. ;ut in this case the ictim was close to death. They could ha e waited till he died of natural causes before B.. feasting on his corpse.